Compensatory Articulation Errors in Patients With Velopharyngeal Dysfunction and Palatal Anomalies

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Genetics
• Craniofacial anomalies

Background:

• Velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) affects speech, often necessitating compensatory articulations (CAs).
• Palatal anomalies, including cleft lip and palate (CLP) and cleft palate (CP), are common causes of VPD.
• Understanding CA patterns is crucial for speech development and therapeutic interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the frequency and types of CAs in nonsyndromic patients with VPD and various palatal anomalies.
• To investigate the relationship between CA frequency, palatal anomaly type, and phonological errors.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of 783 nonsyndromic, Hebrew-speaking patients with VPD and palatal anomalies.
• Assessment of perceptual VPD, articulation, and phonological errors.
• Classification of CAs based on their location relative to the vocal tract defect.

Main Results:

• 27.2% of patients exhibited CAs, predominantly occurring below the vocal tract defect (18.4%).
• Submucous cleft palate (SMCP) patients showed a lower CA frequency compared to CP and CLP patients.
• Phonological errors were more frequent in patients with CAs (55.4%) across most palatal anomaly groups.

Conclusions:

• CAs persist into adulthood in nonsyndromic patients with VPD.
• Inadequate velar length and oral structural abnormalities significantly influence CAs.
• Phonetic and phonological theories, as well as genetic investigations of palatal anomalies, can benefit from these findings.